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Take control of your car's tech with these six apps

OK, so you you can't remotely drive a BMW with a phone like James Bond does in "Tomorrow Never Dies," but there are plenty of real apps that will let you take control of your car and its tech with little more than your smartphone and a data connection. From beaming destinations to your Toyota's navigation system with Entune to remotely unlocking your doors with GM's OnStar RemoteLink, we've rounded up a few of the best car-controlling apps. … Read more

Car Tech Live 220: Driving the undefinable Lexus CT200h (podcast)

Car Tech Live 220: The Volt gets cheaper, the Altima Hybrid scarcer, your government hates your car tech, and we drive the Lexus CT200h (podcast)

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 220 SHOW NOTES

• CNET drives the Lexus CT200h

• A CNET user's analysis of the real cost of a Chevy Volt

• Fed dude at DOT not a big fan of your car tech, smartphone

• What's next for the Nissan Altima Hybrid?

• Hyundai Blue Link priced and detailed

• CNET's LOLcars gallery!

Hyundai: To save fuel, take the green route home

If you're trying to save fuel, keep in mind that the shortest route offered by a vehicle's navigation system isn't always the most fuel-efficient route. Factor in traffic jams during peak commute hours, and you could burn a lot more fuel in addition to time. But Hyundai says its navigation system's new "green routing" feature will offer drivers definitive fuel-saving directions based on Navteq's digital map and traffic data.

Announced at the 2011 International Motor Show in Geneva, the new navigation option uses details in Navteq's digital maps, such as hills, road … Read more

Hyundai Curb concept tackles potholes, nightclubs

DETROIT--It wouldn't be a car show without a few wild concepts. So alongside the wild Veloster production model, Hyundai also unveiled the crazy HCD-12 Curb concept.

The Curb, for short, is a compact crossover utility vehicle (CUV) with an overall length that's only 4-inches longer than the smallest of Hyundai's lineup, the Accent. However, the Curb manages to cram a good deal into that small space.

Starting with styling, the Curb's wheel wells are filled by massive 22-inch wheels that are wrapped with special graphic tires. Sitting atop those wheels is a body that takes the … Read more

Hyundai teases Veloster sport coupe before Detroit

There have been rumblings and spy shots floating around the Internet for some time, but today Hyundai makes its upcoming compact sport coupe official with the launching of a teaser campaign for the 2011 Hyundai Veloster.

The teaser site doesn't show much more than a countdown to the vehicle's unveiling at the 2011 Detroit auto show on January 10. However, a teaser video found on the automaker's YouTube channel (embedded below) lets us know that the coupe will feature a direct-injected engine--likely a four-cylinder--mated to a dual-clutch automatic gearbox that delivers an estimated 40 mpg. Those numbers … Read more

Behind Bing's blue links

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft often talks about the importance of search being more than just 10 blue links. However, it turns out that at least the "blue" part of that is very important.

When Microsoft was designing what would eventually become Bing, it tested a vast number of colors and it turned out that the one that users engaged with the most was indeed blue. More specifically, it was a shade of blue quite similar to the one used by Google.

Paul Ray, a user experience manager for Bing said on Tuesday that choosing that specific blue (#0044CC for you … Read more